Sync's Contemplation
by Beijing Express
Summary: ...Because he never liked to be left clueless... Sync/Arietta. ONESHOT. Sequel to "Arietta's Sorrow".


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Tales of the Abyss.

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**Sync's Contemplation**

…_Because he never liked to be left clueless…_

_**By: Nietono-no-Shana**_

"And why," Sync said through gritted teeth, "Do I have to wear this?"

"Because you promised me," Arietta replied sweetly. She smiled and took a step back from Sync as she examined the outfit he'd put on.

"Yeah, but that promise was…" His sentence trailed off and as he recalled what had happened the other night.

He sighed heavily and looked away from Arietta.

_'That promise was just to make you happy…' _he finished in his thoughts.

The other night, Arietta had been mourning over that wimp-of-a-replica, Ion. And, being the 'kind' person he was, he told her that he would be her Ion.

…But he didn't _actually_ mean it.

It was just something he had said to comfort her.

…Or was it?

Nevertheless, due to Sync's inexperience with women, it had never occurred to him that Arietta would take his promise for real.

So here he was, dressed up as the person he hated the most.

Ion.

"It suits you so well!" Arietta exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. "If you didn't gel your hair up so much, you'd look just like Ion."

Sync made a face.

"But I like my gel," he protested. "And besides, you're not the boss of me."

She frowned, putting her hands on her hips.

"But you promised, Sync," she pointed out again. "That you would be my Ion."

Sync's throat tightened; he was about to fire an insult back at her, but Arietta's hopeful face stopped him. The way her petite hands were placed against her hips; the way she pouted up towards him; the way she said his name in her sugar-sweet voice; everything about her was so deadly.

At this moment, Sync would've died for his mask more than ever, since he didn't like his facial expressions to be exposed.

After all, they were one of his weak points.

Wondering how to save face, his thoughts were cut short when he felt a warm, pale hand take his own.

"Sit down," she instructed as she gently dragged him over towards her bedside.

Being dragged around by a girl younger than yourself didn't deserve as much attention as Sync was giving it. Because he was acting like it meant the whole world.

Once he sat down on Arietta's soft mattress, she was off to her bathroom.

Placed upon her bed were stuffed animals of all sorts (most of them were "ugly, pink things" in Sync's opinion) and comfy pillows.

Even though he would normally be disgusted by all these female-like qualities, he was actually _enjoying_ it.

And he didn't know why.

Sync always hated being clueless.

Now that Arietta had come back, he heard a soft plop beside him. Once he turned around to see her, he was invited with smack on the head.

"What was that for-?" he began to yell.

But after that smack on the head, there was something wiry being pulled through his dark green hair.

"After we get your hair down, you'll look just like him," Arietta explained as she combed Sync's hair with a brush. "And then we can show everyone else your resemblance to him!"

Sync gave her a look as she hummed happily while brushing his hair.

The last thing he wanted was Dist laughing that nasally laugh of his at him.

Now _that_ was plain torture.

But on another note, he would usually smack a person's hand away if they came to close to him; especially if they were doing something to his hair. He'd do that to almost anyone. But if it were Arietta…

Luckily for her, Sync's hair was obeying her command, and it was coming down with each stroke of her brush. (It seemed that Sync hadn't put that much gel on today.) As she was brushing his bangs, though, he posed a question to her.

"If I told you that I had a resemblance to Ion," he began, "What would you say?"

Arietta stopped brushing and she looked at him with wondrous eyes.

"You're…related to Ion?" she asked after a long pause.

His eyes darted away from her gaze.

"I'm just saying," he quickly mentioned. "It doesn't mean I am."

"Well," she began, though her eyes were glued to Sync with every word she said. "I guess I would say you should be the next Fon Master."

"Why would I want to take on a role that a wimpy-!" he began to snap. However, Arietta's frown stopped him from saying anything else that would insult her beloved Fon Master. "I mean, take on a role that he would?"

"Why not?" she asked back. "If you were the Fon Master, then I…" She paused, and let her answer trail off.

"Then you would what?" he asked, curious.

She fiddled with the brush in her lap, tossing it over from one side to the next.

"I would…" She opened her mouth to answer, but quickly clamped it shut. "Nothing," she said.

"What were you going to say?" he asked again, the curiosity taking over him.

"I said it was nothing!" she snapped back. He could've sworn he saw faint traces of blush marks streaked across her face for a brief second.

"Besides," she said, "I'm done."

"What-?"

Before he could finish, Arietta had already picked up the small mirror by her beside and held it in front of Sync's face.

And it was then that Sync wondered if Arietta had blushed because of what she was about to say, or because of who he looked like.

Because right then and there, staring straight back at him, was Ion.

He looked exactly like him.

And he was disgusted by it.

His anger controlled every muscle of his body as he swatted the mirror out of Arietta's hands. It sailed through the air and landed on the ground, where it shattered into a million pieces.

"Sync, what are you doing!?" Arietta shrieked as she saw him get up from her bedside. "You didn't have to go and do th-!"

"This is _degrading_!" he yelled, making Arietta's high-pitched shriek sound like a small whisper. "I don't even know _why_ I did this!"

He began to take off the cream-colored robe, and under it were his black garments.

"But you did it because you promised me!" Arietta said, standing up as well. She began to run after Sync, who was undressing while he was walking towards her door. "You promised me that you would be my Ion!"

After hearing that stupid reason again, he stopped and turned around to look at her.

"Yeah, well you know what? I didn't actually _mean_ it!" he snarled.

Arietta stopped dead in her tracks and blinked up at Sync, who was already halfway done taking Ion's clothes off.

"Is that…really true?" she asked in a very small voice. "Was I…just being annoying?"

He quickly glanced down at her awestruck expression as he pulled off the other sleeve of Ion's robe. His smug expression caught her off guard, and – being the gullible little girl she was – started to sniffle.

Trying to save face again, he added, "Could you just grow up already? You're acting like such a baby-!"

"You're really _are_ a piece of trash!" she cried. "How could you be saying that?! And I actually _believed_ you!"

Hearing those words from her mouth made him pause and reflect as to what he'd just did. Even though what he'd said to her that night were true, he'd just covered up his true feelings for her by doing what he did best: pushing people away.

But he didn't want Arietta to be pushed away.

He wanted her to…

Looking away from her, he asked in a calm, leveled voice: "If I told you that I had a resemblance to Ion, what would you say?"

Arietta peeked through her black Lolita sleeves and slowly put them down to her side. Why was he asking that question again?

"I said that you should be the next Fon Master," she said cautiously. She could've sworn that they were in the middle of a fight just a few seconds ago.

"And what else?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'and what else'? That was all I said."

"No, you were going to say something else after that."

Shocked by his brilliant memory, Arietta took a step back. He'd actually remembered her saying that? Usually, he'd just ignore whatever she'd say to him, but lately…he'd been paying more attention to her.

"If I were the Fon Master," he said, "What would you do?"

"I would…" She looked down at her wet sleeves, which she'd used to dab the tears away from her eyes.

She took a quick glance at Sync, and found that he was just standing there, waiting for an answer. He wanted to know.

So, as she inhaled a deep breath, she said:

_**"I would want to be your Fon Master Guardian."**_

After she'd said this (and without any stutters) she lowered her head out of embarrassment. Truthfully, she didn't know why she'd thought that. In fact, she didn't know why she'd told him. But for some reason, she felt something deep inside her; something that Ion had not made her feel. It was something new; something undiscovered; something…that she wanted answer to.

"But why would you want to know?" she spat defiantly. "I mean, you could care less what I say, since you always tell me to-!"

A small flick on her forehead interrupted her statement.

"Ow!" she yelped as she rubbed the place Sync had flicked her. "What was that for?!"

"Buzz off," he said with a smirk.

Now that he had found out Arietta's answer, he no longer felt clueless.

Because he knew that she felt the same way as he did.

**-End**

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**_So here's a small sequel to "Arietta's Sorrow", only told from Sync's perspective. Man, these Arietta x Sync oneshots are so much fun to write! (And read, too! Everyone else's fics are awesome, too!)_**

**_Please tell me what you think! :D_**

**_-Nietono-no-Shana_**


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